One Step Closer
by FanChic
Summary: Noah is the happiest thing that's happened to Olivia in a long time. It's a challenge, but she'll be able to make it. Through next couple months a rape case brings back a very familiar face and also this story is Bensidy. They'll make it through, one step at a time. Set a little ways into season 16.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This gonna be a good one lol. There are a couple things different, but not too different. Nick never got in trouble at the end, so he's still with SVU. Also, Olivia and Brian are still together which is key for this. Besides that, everything else is the same and hope you guys enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from SVU.**

_Olivia sat on the floor opposite Noah, who was playing with his toys. She smiled at him and he smiled back. It seemed like forever but in a split second he was gone. She stood and turned frantically but the room was completly empty. Noah appeared on the other side of the room, but someone picked him up. She saw his face, Lewis' evil grin. She ran towards them but it seemed like there was an invisible barrier in between them. He had a gun in his hand and was raisinng it towards Noah. Olivia was screaming in protest but her voice was mute. A loud bang went off..._

Olivia sat up abruptly in her bed and gasped. She was breathing heavily and looked over towards Noah's crib and barely made out his figure sleeping.

_It was just a dream, _she thought to herself.

She felt a hand on her arm.

"Hey, you alright?" Brian whispered, still laying down.

Olivia nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, just a bad dream." She kept her voice at a whisper so Noah wouldn't wake up. Before laying back down she glanced at her clock next to the bed.

_3:47 a.m._

She sighed, knowing it would take her a while to go back to sleep. It was still normal to have the nightmares. She had them about Noah more than anything.

She smiled thinking about that little boy a couple feet away from her. Noah had only been living with her and Brian for about five months, he meant the world to them. She could've sworn Brian had done this before; he was a natural.

Sure it was a struggle trying to balance work and home, but it worked out somehow.

Olivia's train of thought was interrupted when she heard Noah start to fuss. Brian moved to get up, but she stopped him. "I've got him." She sat up and walked towards Noah's crib.

She reached down and picked him up. He started to calm down a little right away. "Hey buddy. I'm sorry, did we wake you?" She softly said to him as she gently bounced to calm him down. They'd figured out that he was a light sleeper a little while ago.

Noah quieted down. Olivia put him back down in his crib and he fell asleep again almost immediately. She walked back over to the bed and slid in quietly.

Brian wrapped his hand around hers. "I know I say this every time you're with him, but you're a natural." He spoke in a whisper that was barely audible to hear.

Olivia had a soft smile grow on her face. She laid on her side and fell asleep as fast as Noah did, she did have to be at work in a couple hours.

Brian watched her sleep until his eyes closed again.

* * *

><p>Olivia had woken up and was already on her morning schedule with Noah. He woke up usually around the same time with her. Brian always slept until right before she had to leave, he had to work later hours at IAB. He woke up right before she normally woke him.<p>

"I'll see you two later." Olivia said with a smile, she liked be able to say that.

Brian picked up Noah from his high-chair. "See ya." He said as Olivia walked out the door. He was on daddy duty for a couple more hours until the sitter came when he had to leave for work. He looked down at Noah, who was just sitting there calmly. He never had imagined himself with a kid, especially not with Olivia.

* * *

><p>Olivia walked into the precinct, finding the other three detectives had just arrived themselves. She walked past them into her office. It wasn't even a minute that she was there before Nick came into her office.<p>

"Hey we got something." He said, holding a file in his hand.

"What do we got?" Olivia asked, walking towards him.

Nick walked out towards the other two, Olivia following.

"We got a rape and attempted murder of a 21 year old woman named Elizabeth Stabler."

The last part of Nick's sentence hit Olivia like a ton of bricks. "Did you say Elizabeth Stabler?"

Nick nodded, then recognizing her last name.

"She at Mercy?" Fin asked, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yup, her mother is with her right now."

Amanda and Nick noticed how deep Fin and Olivia's facial expressions were.

"Do you want me and Nick to go or.."Amanda started to ask, but trailed off when Olivia started talking again.

"No, we'll go, "she looked at Fin, "she knows us, might be a little more comfortable." The younger detectives just nodded.

"I'll drive." Fin said to Olivia. Olivia nodded, waking towards the place she knew she would see the man who she hadn't seen or heard from in three years.

**A/N: All you E/O fans out there probably just got all happy. Don't get too excited though. Let me hear your thoughts on the first chapter. FYI can't wait until Wednesday!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, loved the season 16 premiere. Can't wait for more. Oh yeah, just a wierd coincidence me and _LouisandClarkSuperFan_ have similar stories. Here's chapter 2 for ya.**

Olivia was still trying to process the information on the ride over. It was a silent one, neither her or Fin spoke. She still couldn't believe it, Lizzie was attacked. She figured that she was in college by now. All grown up, and she's already got something to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Fin pulled the car into the parking lot. Olivia got out of the car slowly and shut the door.

"Are you sure you can do this Liv?" Fin asked, getting out of the car.

Olivia looked at Fin and nodded. "I'm fine." She hesitantly started walking towards the hospital, Fin right behind her. All she could think about was if Elliot was already there.

_Snap out of it, _Olivia thought to herself. This wasn't the time or place to worry about him. She had to get back into cop mode.

They took a silent elevator ride to the third floor and reached Lizzie's room. Inside, Kathy was sitting next to Lizzie, her left eye was visibly black and blue. Her case file showed that she had a several broken ribs; she had taken a good beating. The rape kit had already been sent to the lab.

"You ready?" Fin asked Olivia one more time.

At this point she was getting annoyed with the question. "Yes, I'm fine. Let's go." Fin could sense it had annoyed her.

Fin gave one knock to the open door before coming in, Olivia behind him.

Both Kathy and Lizzie looked up when they entered the room.

"Olivia." Kathy said, she had never really talked with Fin.

"Kathy." Olivia said back.

Kathy said what she knew Olivia was thinking. "Elliot's on his way."

"I figured as much." Olivia switched her focus to Lizzie. She looked so grown up. "Hey Lizzie. You doing alright?"

Lizzie knew Olivia from when she and her dad had been best friends and partners. She forgot she would be coming here most likely. "Like shit." She replied back.

So much has changed since Olivia had last saw her. She wondered how she got mixed with people who do these awful things.

Fin stood in the back leaning against the wall. He figured Lizzie was more comfortable with Liv asking the questions.

"Do you know who attacked you?" Olivia asked her, the most unpleasant question still to come.

Lizzie shook her head. "It was too dark, I couldn't see his face. He didn't talk at all."

Olivia sighed, regretting having to ask the next question. "Can you tell me what happened?" She saw fear return to Lizzie's eyes.

Kathy held Lizzie's hand tight, she was shaking a little.

"It happened last night. We were at a party. It was at a frat house on campus. I knew most of the guys there, and they all are pretty decent. Someone brought in all this liquor and everyone just started drinking like nuts. I only had one, and I started to feel like crap so I sat down on the couch. That's the last thing I remember before I blacked out." she swallowed hard.

Kathy had small tears in her eyes. "It's ok, you are doing fine. Just finish telling them what happened"

Lizzie took a deep breath. "Before that I had this really weird feeling in my body. I've never felt it before. But when I woke up.." she hesitated, "it was dark. I was still a little groggy and couldn't figure out where I was. That's when I realized he was on top of me and.." She had tears rolling down her face.

Olivia felt like her heart had shattered into a million pieces listening to her former partner's daughter have to tell something she'd heard so many times before.

"And he raped me." Lizzie said it so mutely it was almost inaudible. "Then he just got up and left. I couldn't do anything, I just froze. I don't know why I didn't scream or something."

Olivia shook her head. "It's completely normal, it's just the shock and fear of the situation makes you freeze up." She knew that all too well for herself.

"Afterwards I just got up and found my clothes," Lizzie continued," my phone had fallen on the floor and I just called my mom. I didn't want to have to do this alone. Then the rest is history."

Now to the usual questions. "Okay, so obvious suspects. Any ex boyfriends, maybe someone jealous?" Olivia asked her.

Lizzie shook her head. "Only one ex, but we ended on good terms. Not anyone that I know of has been jealous of me with anyone."

"Was there anything you could see about him that could distinct him from the others?"

"All that I could really tell was that he was tall and was really muscular."

"Okay, do you think you could send me a list of the names of the guys you remember who were there who meet that description?"

Lizzie nodded. "I don't remember everyone but I'll try my best."

Olivia nodded. "Okay good. We'll see how you're doing later. We're gonna catch this guy soon." She gave Lizzie a soft smile and turned to face Fin.

As they went to walk out the door, they heard a familiar voice coming around the corner. "Lizzie are you alright-" Elliot stopped when he saw Fin and Olivia standing there.

Both Elliot and Olivia's eyes met. What was only a couple seconds seemed like forever. Olivia couldn't believe she was actually seeing him.

"Liv I.." Elliot started to say, but she walked quickly past him and away from the room. Elliot looked at Fin, and both their expressions were reading the same thing. They could tell she was pissed at Elliot.

Fin walked out the door to go find Olivia.

Elliot stared out the door for a couple more seconds, then turned around to comfort his daughter.

* * *

><p>Fin found Olivia in the car in the parking lot. She sat there looking at the ground with her face in her hands.<p>

He walked over the driver's side and slid in. He wanted to ask her if she was okay, but her answer would still be yes.

Olivia looked over at Fin. "Lizzie's tox-screen came back, they just called. There was traces of roofies in her system."

"Date-rape drug." Fin said, starting the car.

Olivia's phone came to life. "That was quick. Kathy emailed me the list of guys who were at the party. I'll send it to Amanda and Nick so they can start talking to them."

"We can start at the bottom and talk to a couple of them." Fin pulled the car out of the parking lot.

Olivia nodded her head. Although her thoughts kept drifting back to Elliot. She had actually seen him. She couldn't decide whether to be happy to see him or be pissed at him. Right now it was looking at the second choice.

Fin knew what she was thinking about. "Liv, he knows you're pissed at him. He's really worried about Lizzie, so he'll probably try to talk to us about the case."

Olivia stared out the window. "I know. Now we just have to figure out who spiked her drink."

**A/N: Please leave reviews :)**


	3. Chapter 3

** A/N: I'm loving the reviews, here's chapter 3.**

"Did you guys get anything because we didn't." Amanda asked as her and Nick came back into the precinct.

Olivia and Fin had just come back themselves. They had spent five hours looking into the list of men Lizzie had sent them. The ones they checked either had an alibi or were too drunk to remember where they had been.

"No, the ones we got were all cleared." Fin said.

Nick sat at his desk. "Same here, they all had an alibi that checks out."

"This wasn't even all of them, this was just what she could remember." Olivia said, checking her phone. "How many are left on the list?"

"Only three." Amanda said.

Olivia put her phone in her pocket. "Let's check them out before we talk to them."

An hour later they had all the information the three men.

"Okay so Brad Jacobs, a senior at her college. Belongs to the frat house the party was at. He's also head football player there." Nick said, sitting on his desk. "He doesn't have anything on his record."

Amanda walked over to the screen displaying the pictures of them. "And Kyle Hartman, a junior, same as Lizzie. He also is in the fraternity, he has a charge of attempted robbery from when he was seventeen. Since it was his first, he walked with community service."

"Last one is clean, Mark Boyer. He's also a junior. Doesn't even belong to the fraternity, was there by invite. Nothing on his record." Nick said again.

Fin had just gotten off the phone with the lab. "DNA from the semen found on Lizzie hasn't come back. He didn't use a condom, so he slipped up."

Olivia shook her head. None of the three seemed like they could've done this, but everyone has two sides to themselves.

* * *

><p>Noah was playing with his toys in his little play pen. Olivia had gotten home an hour ago since they didn't get the results from the lab. There was a rush on it, and they didn't know what the hold up was.<p>

Olivia looked at the clock on the wall. It was already almost nine o'clock.

"Okay little man,it is way past your bedtime." She walked over and picked Noah up out of his play pen. He rubbed his eyes with his little hands. "Yeah you're tired."

She walked into the bedroom and laid him down in his crib. Lucy had already changed him into his pajamas before she got home. Olivia was happy she found a great baby sitter like her.

Olivia stood there softly stroking Noah's hair until he fell asleep after twenty minutes. She didn't mind, she liked putting him to sleep.

She quietly walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Brian would be home soon. That was good, she needed someone to talk to after the day she had. She had actually seen Elliot, he hadn't even talked to her in three years and this case suddenly brought him back. He would try to talk to her, she knew it. She was still pissed at him, he didn't get it. Sure she had to know why he wouldn't even talk to her, but she couldn't even look at him right now.

There was a slight knock at her door. Olivia got up and walked to the door. She didn't even think about who could be on the other side and opened the door to find Elliot standing there. She stood there in a form of shock for a couple seconds.

"How did you know where my new place was?" Olivia asked, hand still on the door knob.

Elliot sighed. "I followed you from the precinct, I had to talk to you."

"So when your daughter becomes a victim is when you decide to talk to me?" Olivia said angrily. "Why didn't you call me? I get that it was to much to keep the job, but we could've talked about it."

He shook his head. "Can I come in and we can talk about this?"

Olivia was conflicted about this. "Fine, but you have five minutes. And keep your voice down." She stepped back and he came in.

As soon as Elliot walked in he noticed all the baby toys on the floor. "When did you have a kid?"

Olivia closed the front door. "I became his foster mother a couple months ago. When a year is up me and Brian will be able to adopt him."

Elliot was shocked. "You and Cassidy? How long has that been going on?"

She rolled her eyes. "Almost two years, I guess you didn't come here to inspect my personal life, so talk." She kept her voice low.

"Look Liv, after I shot Jenna I fell apart. I started drinking after I turned my papers in. I got help because I became an _alcoholic._" He emphasized the word. "Now, I got better, but I just couldn't bare to see you. I didn't want you to see me after my life went to hell."

Olivia shook her head. "Wow." She said almost sarcastically.

"What?"

She was so mad but trying to speak as quietly as possible at the moment. "You think you've been through hell? No, I've been to hell and back Elliot. I was kidnapped, assaulted and almost raped! I thought I was going to die, no at one point I knew I was going to die. Do you know what kept me fighting? I thought maybe there was a slight possibility I would see your face again. And look now. I am still head strong, I have the job, and now I'm acting commander of SVU."

Elliot interrupted her. "Cragen's gone?"

She nodded. "So is Munch. But that's not the point."

"Then what is?" Elliot said, starting to get frustrated.

"The point is that I needed you! I had everyone else's support, and you weren't there!" Olivia started to get tears in her eyes and leaned against the wall. She needed him to leave before she got too worked up.

Elliot walked towards her. "Liv I'm sorry." He said softly.

"No, Elliot you need to leave."

"There's still something I need to tell you."

"Elliot I'm serious you need to get out." Olivia started walking towards the door.

Elliot grabbed her arm roughly, stopping her in her tracks. In that one moment she was thrown back into the nightmare of her life. She turned right after he grabbed her and slapped him across the face.

He let go of her, holding the side of his face.

Olivia snapped back to reality, realizing what happened. "Elliot.."

He shook his head. "No, it's okay." He had seen the look in her eyes, she was a different person now.

"Just say what you wanted to say." Olivia said.

Elliot moved his hand away from his face. "Liv, the reason I couldn't face you was because I loved you too much to break your heart."

"What are you saying Elliot, we've gone over this."

"Liv, I mean that I love you. I always have." He walked back over to her.

Olivia stood there processing what he had said. "El, I love you too. Just not like that. We were best friends, and I will always love you for that." She could see the look of hurt run across his face. "You should go, Brian will be home soon."

"Liv please."

"Elliot enough, it's done and over with-" Elliot cut her off by pulling her against him and kissing her.

_What the hell am I doing? _Olivia thought.

She pushed him away when she heard the front door open. She turned and saw Brian standing there.

"Bri-" She started but Brian interrupted her.

"Liv, what the hell? Stabler?"

Olivia shot Elliot an angry look, though she knew it was part her fault too.

_Well this is just great._ She thought to herself as Brian stared angrily at her.

**A/N: Yikes! Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so I've received a few negative reviews about this story being a Bensidy story (you know who you are) that I've had to remove. I'd just like to say that I stated clearly in the summary this is a Bensidy story, so if you don't like it, please don't read it or write bad reviews for someone's story. I'm not trying to be rude, but it's true and I find it quite annoying. My little rant out of the way, sorry but t****his chapter is gonna be a little shorter.**

All three of them stood there still as statues for a few moments. Elliot realized what a big mistake kissing her was. She didn't feel the same way back towards him. He could tell how much they cared for each other by the look on Brian's face.

"Elliot get out." Olivia said angrily at him, breaking the frozen silence.

Elliot just looked at her. "Okay, but Liv I'm not done talking about this."

Brian moved away from the door a little.

"Well I am, leave."

Elliot stormed off out the open door, Olivia following and shutting the door behind him.

"What the hell was that Liv?! Since when did he even start talking to you?" Brian threw his stuff on the kitchen counter hard. Olivia walked back towards him.

"He's only here because he's connected to the case we're working. And what the hell that was, was Elliot showing up here and trying to fix things."

Brian shook his head. "Oh, it looks like you two fixed a lot of things."

"We will never be able to go back to the way things used to be. Too much has happened since then."

Brian realized he was getting close to yelling and lowered his voice, trying to control himself. "Explain why the hell you were kissing him when I came through the door."

"Look, he kissed me. Right after he told me he has feelings for me." Olivia said that last part lightly.

"Please tell me you don't share those feelings."

Olivia shook her head. "No, I don't. Listen, we were arguing, he told me how he felt, and then _he kissed me_." She still had that glassy eyed look in her eyes from earlier.

Brian noticed this. He walked over to where he was standing. "Something else happened, didn't it?"

"What?" Olivia broke eye contact with him.

"Hey, I know you, I can tell something made you upset."

Olivia knew he would keeping badgering her until she gave him a straight answer. "It's not a big deal. We were arguing about what happened with Lewis. He grabbed me and it triggered a flashback."

Brian lightly grabbed her hand. "You okay?"

She pulled her hand away from his. "I said I'm fine. Elliot's face on the other hand is another story."

He gave her a confused look.

"I may have slapped him across the face before I snapped out of it." She said, still feeling bad about it.

Brian would've laughed at that if it were under better circumstances. She hit Stabler, and for good reasons right then he wanted to also.

"Brian, point is that I have no feelings for Elliot. I love you and only you." Olivia said, walking up to him.

He smiled. "I love you too Liv." He pulled her to him and kissed her.

She pulled away from him, smiling. She glanced back towards the bedroom where Noah was. "I am so surprised he slept through all that."

"Well he's either up and being quiet or just turning into a heavy sleeper." Brian went to sit on the couch.

Olivia went to join him. "I'd prefer the second option." She was half tempted to go check, but didnt near anything on the baby monitor. She thought about what had just happened with Elliot. She felt a little bad for what went down, but he didn't get that things were different now. Then she thought about when he kissed her.

_No, push that out of your mind. _She scolded herself in her mind. What she had said to both men was true. She still does and always will have a certain love for Elliot, but her heart belonged with Brian.

She leaned up against him, staring out the open window adjacent to them.

* * *

><p>Elliot sat at the bar, already having downed his second drink. He'd just gone into the first bar he saw, not caring who saw him.<p>

"Another one." He said to the man behind the bar. The man nodded and handed it to him almost immediately.

He had been trying to stay sober since he left. What happened to Lizzie didn't help, and he'd just had his heart broken by his best friend.

_She's not your friend anymore. _Elliot thought to himself, taking another sip of his drink. He knew the world move on without him, including her. He loved her too much to face her after the shooting. But he had to let her know how he felt.

Elliot had seen what happened with her and Lewis on the news and the internet. He wanted to come and see her, but he didn't have the heart to face her after that. He felt like such a jackass now. He had seen the look in her eyes when he'd grabbed her too hard. It was one he'd never seen in the twelve years he'd beven her partner. True and utter fear and horror. He also felt horrible about that, he had returned her to the worst ordeal of her life.

"God I'm such an idiot." He said quietly to himself. He just sat there, taking a larger sip of his drink.

**A/N: Avoided a break up through heart break. I feel bad for doing this to Elliot, but the story must to on the way it was planned! (Once again sorry for the shorter chapter). Please review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I did fix the character tags, even thought they were just complaining it was a Bensidy story, and thought it was just a dumb concept. I'm not going to talk about it anymore. Not a whole lot of action or anythig quite yet in this chapter.**

Amanda and Nick walked across the college campus next morning. They stopped when they saw the man they were looking for and walked towards him.

"Kyle Hartman." Nick said as they walked towards him.

"And you are?"

Nick and Amanda flashed their badges. "Police. We need to ask you a few questions."

The young man shared a look with his group of friends before standing up. They walked over away from the crowd.

"Do you know her?" Amanda asked, showing a picture of Lizzie to him.

"Yeah, that's Lizzie, we're good friends. Why, did something happen to her?"

"She was assaulted at the party this past Thursday night. When was the last time you saw her that night?"

Kyle had shown no surprise or shock when he heard this. "Probably around eleven. We were all hanging out. I think we were the only two sober enough to walk. She said she wasn't feeling good and said she was leaving. That's the last time I saw her."

Nick wasn't buying it. "Was there anyone acting strangely around her that you noticed?"

Kyle kind of laughed a little. "Like I said, everyone was nuts. It was hard to tell who was drunk or acting off."

Amanda's phone started to ring. She picked it up and answered it. "Rollins."

Nick looked at Kyle. "Don't leave the area."

Kyle turned and walked back to his group of friends.

"Okay thanks got it." Amanda hung up her phone. "That was Fin, DNA came back from the lab."

"Who's the match?"

"The DNA matched Brad Jacobs." Amanda said, glancing back over at Kyle. "Hey Kyle!" She yelled over to him.

Kyle looked back over at them, looking annoyed.

Amanda motioned for him to come back over. He quickly ran back over. "What do you want now?"

"Do you know Brad Jacobs?" Amanda pulled his picture up.

He nodded. "Yeah, he's kind of a jerk. We have a couple classes together that's it. Normally he's the person to get totally wasted at a party, but he had like nothing to drink."

"Have you seen him today, or at all?" Nick asked.

"I haven't seen him, but try the football field. They practice like crazy on Saturdays."

* * *

><p>"Hey Liv." Lizzie said, sitting on the edge of her hospital bed.<p>

"Hey Lizzie, are they letting you out of this place?" Olivia asked, sitting in a chair opposite the bed.

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah, thank God. I hate hospitals."

_She's definitely her father's daughter._ Olivia thought to herself. "How are you feeling?"

Lizzie had a blank look on her face. "Better, did you catch the perv who did this yet?"

"Do you know Brad Jacobs?" Olivia showed her a picture of him.

"The _king_ of the football team." Lizzie rolled her eyes. "He's already gotten like a million offers from professional teams. We have a couple classes together. He's hit on me a couple times, even though he has a girlfriend. Did he do this?"

Olivia nodded her head. "Is there any reason he'd want to hurt you?"

"My roommate was sleeping with him, she told me for some resson. She's pregnant now. I was going to tell his girlfriend, Brianna, because I think she deserves to know. I hate that people cheat on each other. He found out somehow and confronted me one day after class. Said if Brianna found out, he'd know how and that it'd be a big mistake."

"Did she find out?" Olivia asked, thinking she already knew that answer.

Lizzie nodded. "I don't know how, I didn't tell her. But he got real pissed at me too. A couple weeks ago he slammed me against the wall. He screamed at me, saying he'd kill me. I thought he was being ridiculous, I don't think they were into each other that much anyway."

Olivia checked her phone after it buzzed. "He sounds like a dangerous person. Why didn't you say anything to anyone?"

"He's just a jerk, he gets high a lot too. He's on crack half the time, but still manages to stay on the football team."

_Barba got the warrant for his arrest, Rollins and Amaro picking him up now. _Olivia's text from Fin read. "Okay Lizzie, I've got to go. You've been a big help, this gives us a motive. We have his DNA. Hopefully this doesn't make it to trial so you won't have to testify if it doesn't."

Lizzie gave her a half smile. "I hope I don't have too."

Olivia stood up to leave. "Are you going to be okay?"

Lizzie nodded.

"Take care of yourself." Olivia walked out of the room down to her car parked in the parking lot. Before getting in she got out her phone.

_Are you okay after last night? _Olivia sent to Elliot.

* * *

><p>Nick and Amanda walked onto the football field, seeing the football players rung drills. They saw Brad sitting on the bench on the opposite side.<p>

"Brad Jacobs." Amanda yelled to get his attention.

They both flashed their badges as they walked closer to him.

"What do you want?" He asked, standing up.

"We need to ask you a few questions." Nick said to him.

"About?"

"Elizabeth Stabler." Amanda said.

As soon as she said that, he took off running the opposite direction.

"He's running!" Amanda yelled as they started after him. He was running towards the entrance to the locker room. He disappeared into the dark tunnel. They both drew their guns and followed. They saw him disappear behind a door.

Nick caught it before it could close. He took off after Brad and tackled him to the ground.

Amanda ran up behind him. "You alright?"

"Fine." Nick said as he cuffed him. He pulled him off the ground. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Dude I just ran because I had a joint in my pocket." Brad said.<p>

Fin was the only one in the room with him. "As soon as they mentioned Elizabeth's name you took off like a bat out of hell. Why would you do that if you didn't assault her?"

"I don't have to answer your questions, I want to talk to my lawyer.."

Olivia and Barba were watching on the other side.

"There's no way he's getting out if this. We have motive and his DNA." Barba said. "This shouldn't make it to trial."

"Good, that means Lizzie won't have to testify." Olivis watched as Fin walked out of the room.

"This guys going down." Fin said walking away from them.

Olivia walked away from the window back to her office. Right after she got in her phone started ringing. She picked it up and saw it was Elliot.

"Elliot are you doing alright?"

"As great as I'll ever be. Look, we need to talk things over. Last night was rough."

Olivia sighed and leaned against the wall. "Where do you want to talk at?"

"Just meet me at the Starbucks around the corner from the precinct at like eight."

"I will if I'm off that early. Oh, and just to let you know, we caught the guy who attacked Lizzie. He's not going anywhere for a while."

"Thank you."

"No Stabler, thank DNA. I'll see you later." She hung up her phone. As if last night wasn't bad enough, hopefully they'll be able to work things out. She still couldn't believe some of the things he had said.

_"Liv, I mean that I love you. I always have." _It played through her mind again. They had been really close, but she never had romantic feelings for him. She pushed the thought from her brain, hoping it wouldn't resurface.

**A/N: Please leave a review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the past couple chapters being a little blah. Don't worry, this is the last one for a while. I got something awesome planned for the next chapter :D**

Olivia walked out of her office and noticed Barba watching the interrogation room again. She walked down the hall towards him.

"What, did they go back in there?" She said, noticing Fin back in with Brad in the room.

"He's telling him that Lizzie didn't tell his girlfriend that he cheated on her."

Fin walked across the room. "Look, we have your DNA so just tell us why you did it."

Brad glared at him, but them gave a small look of defeat. "She told my girlfriend I cheated on her. I told her that she'd be sorry but she didn't listen to me."

"No she didn't. Lizzie said she never told her."

"You're lying." Brad had a look of shock on his face.

"She swore that she never told her."

Brad put his head in his hands. "Oh God. Why did I do that?"

"Sure, now he feels sorry for what he did." Barba said.

Olivia turned the knob to mute the sound of their voices. "Like you said, open and shut case."

* * *

><p>Olivia glanced at her phone, walking around the corner. <em>8:15<em>

She wondered if Elliot was still there and wondered what he wanted to talk about. She felt that enough had been said last night.

Sure enough, she turned the corner and saw Elliot sitting at a small table inside. She walked in and sat in the other chair across from him.

"Didn't think you were going to show." Elliot said as she sat down.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I showed up at all. What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize for last night. Is everything alright between you and Cassidy?"

"We are perfectly fine, no thanks to you." She said, even though she knew it wasn't entirely his fault.

Elliot leaned back in his chair. "Look, I know I was way out of line kissing you. But I'm sorry for everything else too."

"What else do you have to apologize for?"

"Everything. For leaving without saying goodbye, not keeping in touch, not being there when you needed me."

"El-" Olivia started to say.

"And I'm sorry for causing a flashback." He said a little softer.

"Elliot that wasn't you fault..."

"Yes it was." He interrupted her again.

"No. It wasn't. It could've been anyone. And, I've accepted what happened between us. But we both have lives now. Speaking of which, do you have a job?"

He nodded. "I work security at a retail store. I get enough money to pay rent at my apartment, so it works."

It was at that point Olivia noticed his breath smelled faintly like alcohol. "Elliot, don't lie to me when I ask you this. How much beer did you have today? Or last night for that matter."

Elliot sighed. "I had three last night after I left your place. And two earlier."

Olivia shook her head. "El, this isn't good. I thought you were getting help."

"I am. I go to AA meetings. I really try, but if I get really stressed it just happens."

"Look, after my ordeal with Lewis I was drinking." She said. "A lot. When I came home from work I was having a couple glasses of wine a night. I'd lie to Brian and tell him it was only my first, if he asked. But I got my head together and I'm better with that too. Especially now with Noah."

"That's good Liv. But I don't think it'd be as easy for me."

"Well, maybe I can help you. Maybe we can try to be friends again. Do you think you could handle that?"

He knew she was referring to his feelings towards her. "Yes, I can. I would love to try and be friends again."

"First things first." She stood up.

"What?" Elliot said looking at her.

"We need to pay a visit to your apartment. You still live in Queens or what?"

He shook his head, standing up. "Moved to Manhattan, only about ten blocks from here."

* * *

><p>It only took ten minutes to reach his small apartment.<p>

"Wow, you live here." Olivia said, looking at the old, worn building.

"Like I said, my job pays enough for me to pat my rent." Elliot said, leading her into his apartment. He unlocked the front door and walked in.

He was right, it was small. There was a living big enough to fit a couch and table in, a small kitchenette, and two doors, presumedly leading to a bathroom and bedroom. There were beer bottles on top of a small counter and a small table, plus a pile of clothes in the corner.

"I was right, you need more help." She walked over to his fridge and opened it. "And only beer in here. Do you own food?"

Elliot let out a small laugh. "I remember asking you that question like ten times. Plus there's this great thing called take out." He said, mocking what she once told him.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but my apartment was clean." She closed the fridge and walked into an empty beer bottle on the floor, knocking it over. "Do you ever clean?" She also acknowledged the pile of dirty clothes in the corner.

"No, and I just haven't done any in a while." He walked over and sat down on his couch.

Olivia leaned against the wall. "And you're really trying to sober up?"

Elliot nodded his head.

"It doesn't help having all this beer in your house you know. It's a little over kill."

"What, do you want me to throw all the beer away that's in there?"

"Yes." She said, walking over to a small set of cabinets. "You have trash bags right?"

"Third drawer."

She pulled two out, walked over and dropped one into his lap. "Toss it all in here."

"And what are you going to do?" Elliot said standing up.

"Clean up all these damn beer bottles."

In the next ten minutes Olivia had cleared all of Elliot's empty beer bottles into the trash bag and Elliot had thrown all the full bottles away.

Olivia knew this wouldn't prevent him from drinking, but it was a start. She wanted to help him become better.

They sat on his couch next to each other.

"Hey Liv." Elliot said. She looked over at him. "Yeah?"

"Thanks." He said, smiling a little.

"It's a start. But promise me you'll actually buy something edible tomorrow." She said as she pulled out her phone. "I've got to go." She wanted to get home.

He leaned back against the couch. "Okay, but do think we could eventually get back to the way things were?"

Olivia stood up. "It'll take some time, but I'd like that too. Oh, and please don't go to a bar right after I leave."

"Relax, I won't."

"Good, hopefully I'll see you soon." She turned and walked towards the door.

"Same." Elliot said as he watched her walked out the door. He sat there for a minute after she left thinking. He appreciated that she was trying to help him. He wanted to stop drinking and become sober. A sudden urge to get a beer came over him. He shook off the feeling, and relaxed against the couch, turning his small TV on.

**A/N: I love them reconnecting, so I wrote it. I will hopefully update soon again, because I have big plans with the next couple of chapters (E/O fans calm down, it's nothing like that lol). Please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I loved writing this chapter! I'm excited for you guys to read it :D**

_2 weeks later..._

"Brad Jacobs got 20 years in prison." Barba said walking into the bull pen. The other detectives were sitting at their desks looking through seversl new case files.

Nick looked up."That's good, at least he won't be out on the streets anymore."

Olivia, having overheard this, emerged from her office. "Nice work."

"Like I had said before, it was an open and shut case. We had his confession and DNA."

"Was Elizabeth in the courtroom today when the judge made his ruling?" Olivia asked.

Barba nodded. "So was her mother."

Immediately Olivia wondered if Elliot knew. "Thanks for filling us in Barba." She turned and walked back into her office. Barba also left the building after a moment.

Amanda turned to face Fin. "Is it just me or has she been a little all over the place lately?"

"It's because of Stabler being back, isn't it?' Nick joined in on the conversation.

Fin nodded. "You both saw how she was after he left, she took it rough. He's still not my favorite person because of that, but it seems like they've been getting along better."

* * *

><p>Olivia dialed Elliot's number in her phone after she closed the door.<p>

"Hello?" He answered on the other end.

"Hey El."

"What's up Liv?" She breathed a slight sigh of relief that he didn't _sound_ drunk. She hadn't seen him for over a week so she hasn't been able to keep him sober.

"The man who attacked Lizzie got 20 years in prison." She could tell Elliot was relieved on the other side, telling he hadn't known.

"Thank God." Elliot said.

She asked him a question that she knew he probably wouldn't answer truthfully. "Elliot, have you been staying sober?"

"Yes I have been." He said with an annoyed tone. "I've only had a couple of beers since last week.

She had been over to his apartment again the week before to check on him. The place was a little bit cleaner then the way she'd left it. The pile of clothes in the corner was almost gone and he had a small amount of real food in his fridge. He was slowly getting back on his feet.

She was a little relieved when he told her that. "I happy you're starting to get yourself together Elliot." She paused for a moment. "Have you thought about rehab?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Elliot's voice broke it. "Yes I have, but I only _thought_ about it. I don't need rehab, I can get better on my own."

"You just told me a couple weeks ago that you would need help, but now you're not going to take it?" Olivia said, not giving up.

"But I am getting help, you're helping me and I have been very greatful for that."

"I just don't think it's enough, you should at le-"

Elliot cut her off. "I can take care of myself whether you think so or not."

Olivia sighed, not wanting to argue with him. "I know you can. Can you at least promise me you'll look into it?"

"Fine, I will but only because you asked me to Liv."

The phone on Olivia's desk started to ring. "Hey I've got to go."

"Okay. See ya." They both hung up.

She went to answer the phone, shifting back into gear for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Olivia walked briskly into her apartment building. They'd caught another case and she had gotten caught at work a little late. It was already almost ten before she got home. Lucy knew she'd work late a lot, but she still felt bad that she kept her around so much. She finally reached her front door.<p>

"Hey Lucy sorry I'm late, I-" Started to say as she opened the door, but saw Brian standing there instead. She noticed the lights were dimmed as she closed the door. "Hey, you're home early."

"I managed to get off a little early. I feel like we barely get to see each other anymore." Brian said as she walked past him to put her stuff down. "And don't worry about Noah, he's been passed out for a while."

Olivia smiled and Brian kissed her before making his way around to the couch, and she followed.

"Wine?" Brian asked, handing her an already full glass.

She hadn't had a drink in a while. Really since Noah came, but she didn't regret it and took it from him. "Thanks, I need it after today."

Brian picked up the other wine glass for himself. "Stressful day at work?"

She shook her head. "No, it's Elliot." She took a sip of wine from her glass.

He had a confused look on his face. "I thought you said that you two were figuring things out?"

"We are, but I'm trying to get him into rehab. He says he doesn't need it but I don't believe him when he says he doesn't drink a lot anymore." She took a larger drink out of her glass than the first.

Brian noticed it, but it was probably just from the stress. Olivia saw that he noticed. "Relax, I'm not going to have more than this, I would like to show up to work sober."

"I know, but I actually have something work related to tell you. And it's actually good news," He let out a small laugh, setting down his untouched wine glass.

"Should I be worried considering it's a good thing relating to IAB?" She laughed a little too.

He shook his head. "Okay, so I found out today that if I don't screw up anytime soon, I'll get to transfer out of IAB."

"Wow, that's great. Congratulations." She said with a big smile on her face. "Do you know where you'll transfer to?"

"They didn't give me any specifics yet, but hopefully it all works out."

Olivia set down her glass on the coffee table. "This is really awesome for you. Is that why you wanted off early?"

Brian smiled. "That's... part of it."

"Well then what else is there?" He knew she hated when he did this.

"There's something I've been wanting to do for a while now, but I haven't got the chance to do it yet." _Here goes nothing_, he thought to himself.

Brian pulled a small black box out of his pocket and got off the couch on one knee. Olivia couldn't believe if what she was seeing was real or not.

"Olivia Benson I have loved you since the day we met. Would you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?" He paused for a second, opening the small box, revealing a beautiful ring inside. Olivia's hand covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes filling with tears of joy.

"Will you marry me?" Brian officially asked her.

Olivia nodded her head. "Yes, yes Brian I will marry you!" She said in excitement. He slipped the ring on her finger and embraced her before they kissed for one long moment. When they pulled away Olivia said with a huge smile on her face, "I love you."

Brian smiled a very big smile. "I love you too."

**A/N: Yay! Like I said, I loved writing that! PLEASE leave REVIEWS, I really, really want to near everyone's opinions on this :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I need at least five reviews for this chapter before I post the next one. (Please) Here's the chapter where I have a lot up my sleeve.**

The next morning Olivia laid in bed, admiring the ring Brian had given her. She kept wondering if this was a dream, if she would wake up and none of this would've happened. But it was real.

She glanced over at Noah's crib, he was still sound asleep. She felt lucky, it's the first time he's slept through the night in a while. She smiled, hell she felt lucky period. It was like she was starting a new chapter in her life, because she was.

Brian rolled over and wrapped his arms around her. "Hey." He smiled.

Olivia smiled back at him. "Hey yourself." Brian kissed her until she pulled away.

He looked at her. "What?"

She sat up. "I have to go to work." She said looking down at him.

"Oh yeah." Brian said, groaning. "I do not want to leave. IAB sucks."

Olivia laughed slightly. "Relax, we'll both be back here tonight." She got up to get ready for work. "And try to be a little more quiet, he's finally sleeping more like he should be." She lowered her voice.

"Alright, but you probably are going to have a tougher day than me." Brian said, sitting up.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.

"You have to tell the squad about last night." He said.

Olivia glanced down at the ring on her finger. "It won't be tough, it'll just take a little adjusting." What she really didn't want to happen is to run into Elliot.

"What I'm worried about is Tucker making me work extra hours, since I left early last night."

Olivia sat back down on the bed next to Brian. "(A) Your probably will, and (B) Tucker is an ass."

"And you just figured this out?" Brian said sarcastically.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Okay, I really have to get going." She stood up again.

Brian watched his new fiancée walk into the bathroom. He smiled when thinking about that.

* * *

><p>Olivia walked into the precinct, hiding her left hand behind her bag. She was smiling, which she never usually did at work.<p>

"Hey Liv." Fin said as she walked past him.

"Hey." She said to him.

"Someone's in a happy mood this morning." Fin noted.

She kept walking to her office. "I guess."

"That was weird." Nick said from his desk.

"Just let her go Nick," Amanda said, "If she wanted us to know she'd tell us."

The other two knew she was right.

* * *

><p>Olivia sighed after she closed the door behind her. It wasn't telling them she was worried about, it was if Elliot found out. She knew she'd tell him eventually, but not so soon.<p>

She set her stuff down on her desk and opened the door again. "Hey can I see you guys in here for a minute?"

They all looked at each other before getting up.

"Looks like you might get your answer." Fin said quietly to Nick before they walked into her office.

"What's up Liv?" Fin asked.

"Why would assume something's up?" She said still keeping her hand out of view from them.

"Considering the fact you never smile at work is one thing." Nick said.

"Ha very funny." Olivia said sarcastically. _Better just tell them now_ she thought.

"You guys know how I've been seeing Cassidy?"

"Yeah." They all said at once.

_Unfortunately_ Nick thought. He never was a big fan of Brian.

"Yeah well lat night he, um.." She finally let her left hand be visible, all of them eyeing it immediately.

"No he didn't." Amanda said surprised.

Olivia nodded. "He proposed last night." A big smile crawled over her face.

"Congratulations Liv." Nick said smiling.

"So I guess we'll have to call you Sergeant Cassidy soon?" Amanda said, laughing a little.

"I guess so." Olivia said.

Nick's phone on his desk started to ring and he left quickly to answer it.

"So, did you guys set a date yet?" Amanda asked.

Olivia moved to her desk. "No, I'm not sure yet. It all happened so fast we haven't decided."

"Let me see the ring." Amanda said.

"If you two are going to get all girly on me I'm leaving." Fin said from the other side of the room.

Olivia and Amanda both rolled their eyes. Olivia raised her hand to Amanda could see.

"Wow it's gorgeous!" Amanda said, examining the ring.

Olivia lowered her hand. "Yeah, I'm still suspicious about how much money he spent on it."

Nick came back into the room. "Hey we got a new vic at Bellevue."

"We'll go." Amanda said, acknowledging her and Nick.

"Alright." Olivia said as the two walked out of the room.

Fin walked over to Olivia. "Congratulations Liv." Fin gave her a small hug.

Olivia smiled. "Thanks Fin."

* * *

><p>It was finally almost the end of her shift. Olivia couldn't wait to get back to her son and her future husband.<p>

Her thoughts were going into depth but her cell phone ringing interrupted her.

"Benson." She answered.

"Olivia."

"Kathy?" Olivia said recognizing her voice. "Is something wrong." Kathy's voice sounded frantic.

"It's Elliot."

Olivia sat down at the chair behind her desk. "Slow down what happened?"

Kathy's voice calmed slightly. "Elliot came over to check on Elizabeth, but she didn't want to see him because she knew how he's react if... Lizzie's pregnant. From the rape."

"Oh my god, I'm sorry.."

"But Elliot pushed her, she didn't want to tell him, but when she did... He got really pissed and stormed out. I don't want him to go drink his ass off, but I don't know where he is, I called him over and over again, but he didn't answer! I don't want him to do anything stupid." Kathy was getting really scared for Elliot.

"Kathy, I'll try and find him. Thanks for letting me know." Olivia hung up the phone.

* * *

><p><em>Elliot rang the doorbell at Kathy's house. He was greeted at the door by Eli.<em>

_"Daddy!" Eli said excitedly._

_"Hey buddy." Elliot picked him up. "Wow you're getting big. Is Lizzie here?"_

_Eli nodded. Elliot set him back on the floor. "Thank you." Elliot said to him._

_"Mommy, daddy's here!" Eli said, running into the kitchen._

_Elliot saw Kathy standing there._

_"Hey Elliot." Kathy said grimly._

_"What?" Elliot said to her._

_Kathy shook her head. "Nothing, I don't think Lizzie wants to.."_

_"Hey mom can I-" Elizabeth came around the corner and stopped short when she saw Elliot. "Hey dad."_

_"Hey Lizzie, what's wrong?"_

_"Nothing, just a bad day." Elizabeth turned to leave._

_"Lizzie seriously tell me what's wrong."_

_"Dad I can't tell you.."_

_Kathy turned to Eli. "Honey can you go into the living room for a couple minutes please?"_

_Eli shrugged. "Okay." He walked into the other room._

_"Okay Elliot if we tell you you have to stay calm." Kathy said sternly to him._

_"Tell me what?" Elliot demanded._

_Elizabeth got tears in her eyes. "Dad... I'm pregnant."_

_They both saw anger in Elliot's eyes. "What do you mean you're pregnant? Was it from the rape?"_

_"Elliot!" Kathy raised her voice like he was a child._

_Elizabeth nodded slowly._

_"No, not to my own child." Elliot said under his breath, but it was still audible. He stormed out of the house and slammed the door. It made Eli jump in the living room, he looked back at his mother._

* * *

><p>"Hey Liv we're clocking out." Fin said, standing in the doorway of her office.<p>

"Huh? Oh okay, see you guys tomorrow." Olivia looked up from her phone for a second.

Fin ducked out of the office right before her phone received a text.

_Hey Liv. Jinxed myself, stuck here for a couple more hours._ She read her text from Brian.

She sighed and replied. _That sucks, see you later._

Afterwards she quickly dialed Elliot's number. It rang and rang but she only got voicemail.

"El, it's Liv. Kathy told me what happened. Please call me and don't do anything stupid. Please." She ended the call, realizing it was almost ten already. She waited a few minutes and tried his number again. No answer.

Olivia decided she would try again when she got home. She was getting ready to leave the empty precinct when she heard someone come in. She didn't think anything of it, but she heard someone come in her door behind her.

"Livvv." Elliot's word slurred at the end.

Olivia turned to face him. He reeked of booze.

_He's wasted._ She thought.

"Elliot, how much did you have to drink?"

He walked, more like stumbled, closer to her. "I don't rememberr, I lost...I lost count."

"Look I get that you're upset, but that was no reason to go out and get wasted."

"It ssshouldn't have happened to Lizzie. She'sss my baby girl." He supported himself on her desk.

"Come on, I'll drive you back to your place." She walked past him to go to the door, but he grabbed her hand to stop her. He felt the ring on her finger he didn't notice before.

_Shit._ Olivia thought. But she barely had time to think.

"You're marrying him!" Elliot screamed at her.

"Elliot listen-" Olivia tried to get him to calm down, but he shoved her hand in her face like she didn't know the ring was on her finger.

"Lisssten to what!? I think it's pretty obvious!" Elliot continued to scream, he dropped her hand.

Olivia backed away from him, but he followed her. "Elliot stop this, you're not thinking clearly."

At this point he had her backed in the corner. "Oh I'm thinking just fine ttthhank you!"

"Elliot, back off, go home!" She kept her voice calm, but it wasn't working.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Olivia jumped at his raise in volume. She eyed her cell phone and gun on her desk.

"Look at mmme!" Elliot was still screaming at her. She returned his gaze. Their eyes locked, glaring at each other, their faces only inches away from each others.

"Dddon't you love me?" Elliot asked her, his voice a little softer. His expression changed, back to normal a little.

"Elliot, I love you. You know that, I always will. But, not like that and you know it." She hoped to be able to get him to calm down.

Elliot closed the inches between them. "Come on, you havvvve to admit we have a connection, you can feel it, I know it!"

Olivia put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes. We have a strong connection that I will never have with anyone else. But you used to be my best friend, why would I jeopardize that?"

"Used to. That's it?"

"We are getting better, but unless you back off we won't-" Elliot stopped her by kissing her and pushing her against the wall. It took her off guard and she tried to push him off.

"El, no-" She said but he kissed her again. He started kissing her neck, but she managed to push him away. "Elliot! Enough! Stop!"

She could see the hurt look on his face, but it quickly turned into anger. He approached her again, glaring at her. Before she could process it, he slapped her across the face.

She held a hand to her face, staring at him. "Leave. Now."

He looked more pissed than before and it sent fear into her. Before she could move, he punched her hard in the stomach, sending her back into the wall. Elliot pinned her to the wall, glaring at her before he threw her to the ground. She winced in pain.

"Go to hell." It was barely audible, but he heard it and that set him off. He started kicking her repeatedly, not knowing what he was doing.

Olivia shielded her face, the only thing she could do. Elliot stopped, and Olivia covered her stomach with her hands in pain. She glanced up at him,but didn't see Elliot's face, she saw Lewis's face instead. It sent pure fear into her body, wishing she hadn't left her gun on her desk.

Elliot just stood over her, watching her for a minute. Olivia shook her head, looking at Elliot again, his face back.

"You see what you made me do!" Elliot screamed, bending down next to her.

"El... stop..please..." Olivia said, but she could barely speak. She coughed up a little blood.

Elliot had this look on her face that she'd never seen before, and it scared her deeply. "Stop, you want me to stop." Elliot grabbed her hair and pulled her up by it. Olivia gasped in pain. "You should love ME!" It made her jump, and she started having another flashback.

He didn't seem to notice. "Yyyou know what? Ssscrew you." He punched her hard in the face; she fell down, hitting her head off the corner of her desk, and she blacked out.

Elliot walked out of the office, as if nothing happened. He wouldn't remember it in the morning.

**A/N: DO NOT HATE ME! Please please please review, the update will come faster if you do (hint hint).**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I knew that last chapter would get ya! So I decided to update sooner than planned.**

Lucy dialed Olivia's phone number- again. She got no answer- again.

"Come on Liv." She said in frustration. Olivia always let her know if she was staying past ten o'clock. It wasn't that she wanted to leave, she loved Noah. It was that she was worried.

She peeked her head into the bedroom to see if Noah was still asleep before stepping out again. The clock on the wall read _10:17_. At that she picked up her phone again and called Brian.

"Hello?"

"Brian, have you talked to Liv at all?" Lucy said, sitting down on the couch.

Brian was sitting at his desk in IAB. "Not in the past half hour, no. Why, what's up?"

"Normally she texts me if she works past ten and I've called her several times but she didn't answer."

"She could've just forgotten to text. If she's staying late she could be busy."

"I know, but I have a bad feeling about this." She turned her head towards the bedroom as she heard Noah starting to fuss. "Hey I've got to go."

"Okay, don't worry, I'll call Liv."

"Okay." Lucy hung up the phone and headed for the bedroom.

* * *

><p>Brian dialed Olivia's number. She didn't answer. "Hey Liv, Lucy called because she's worried about you. Call me back if you get the chance." He hung up the phone.<p>

He tried again in the next minute, but no answer again.

_Now I'm getting worried. _Brian thought to himself. He dialed Nick's number, hesitantly. They still weren't the biggest fans of each other.

Nick and Amanda walked out of the diner around the corner from the precinct when Nick's phone rang.

"Hang on." He said to Amanda. "Amaro." He answered.

"Nick, it's Brian."

"What do you want?"

"Hey, was Liv still at the precinct when you left?" Nick could hear the worried tone in his voice.

"Yeah, she was just getting ready to leave, why?"

"We can't get a hold of her, can you guys see if she's still there for some reason?"

"Yeah, we will." He hung up.

Amanda gave him a curious look. "What?" She asked.

"Cassidy says Liv isn't home yet and isn't answering his phone. He asked if we could make sure she's alright."

"At least we're close." Amanda said as they started walking down the sidewalk, back to the precinct.

It took only a couple minutes to reach the precinct.

"You know he's probably being paranoid right?" Amanda opened the door and they walked to the elevators.

"I hope." Nick said. They rode the elevator up.

It was quiet in the empty precinct.

"Liv you still here?" Nick yelled. "See nobody's here."

"Wait, her stuff is still on her desk." Amanda said.

Nick unconsciously put a hand on his gun and walked slowly into the office. He saw Olivia laying on the floor.

"Oh my god, Amanda call a bus!" Nick got down next to Olivia. "Hey Liv, Liv."

Amanda ran in, already on the phone. "I need an ambulance at Manhattan SVU, sixteenth precinct...Possible concussion, maybe cracked ribs." She hung up.

"She's not waking up, but she's breathing." Nick said, looking back at Amanda.

Amanda was on her phone again.

"Who are you calling?" Nick asked.

"Brian." Amanda said.

"Hello?"

"Brian, it's Amanda, we found Liv, but-"

"But what?" Brian sounded frustrated.

"She was still at the precinct, someone beat the hell out of her."

"Oh my god, who did it?"

"We don't know she's unconscious." She heard the ambulance sirens approaching. "I've got to go, they're taking her to Mercy."

"I'm gonna try to get down there." They both hung up, right before the paramedics entered the bull pen.

"We're in here!" Amanda yelled to them.

"What happened?" The one asked. Nick backed away so they could get in with the gurney.

"We don't know, this is how we found her." Nick said. The paramedics carefully lifted her on the gurney.

It was then that they could see her injuries more fully. Her bottom lip was split, she had a bruise on the side of her face and a couple gashes on the side of her head.

Amanda and Nick followed them out the doors.

"I'll ride with her in case she wakes up." Nick said, getting in the ambulance behind the other paramedic.

Amanda saw a car pull up and Fin got out. "What the hell happened?"

"We're not sure, we came back and found Liv unconscious. Someone beat the hell out of her. We don't know who." Amanda said, watching the ambulance drive off.

"Why did you guys come back?"

"Brian called us, said Liv wasn't answering her phone. Wanted us to check. Wait, why are you here?" Amanda asked.

"Forgot something, don't even remember now.. Where they taking her?"

"Mercy."

"I'll drive." Fin said, walking to the drivers side door.

* * *

><p>Lucy paced back and force behind the couch, practically staring at her phone. She didn't want to be paranoid, but something felt wrong to her. She jumped when her phone rang.<p>

"Brian, did you talk to Liv?" She said quickly.

"We found her, look I need you to stay there with Noah. Something hapened."

"What happened?"

"I honestly don't know, I don't have a lot of details. I'm going to the hospital now, can you stay there with Noah for the night?"

"Yeah, I will. Just tell me what happened when you know."

"I will." They both hung up.

Brian had to practically beg them to let him leave.

_I don't know how many times I have to say "it's an emergency!" _Brian thought as he drive quickly towards the hospital.

* * *

><p>Nick rode in the ambulance, holding Olivia's hand in his.<p>

"Nick?" He turned and saw her awake.

"Liv. How do you feel?"

"What the hell happened?" She said, almost confused.

He squeezed her hand tighter. "Someone attacked you at the precinct, we're going to the hospital. Do you know who attacked you?"

Olivia thought hard, but she couldn't remember. "I can't remember. I remember, it was late, you guys were still there, someone called me." She paused. "Everything else is blank, why can't I remember anything?"

"It's from the concussion." Said the paramedic, who had been silent. "Short term memory loss is common. Try not to talk too much, you may have fractured ribs."

Olivia nodded. They felt the ambulance stoo and the doors opened. They carefully lifted the gurney out onto the road outside the hospital.

"I'll be back in a minute, I'm going to talk to the others."

Olivia just nodded again.

Fin and Amanda pulled up in the car and saw where Nick was in the ambulance.

"Did they say anything?"

"She has a concussion, possibly fractured ribs. She woke up, but can't remember anything."

They met with Nick and walked inside.

"So she doesn't remember who attacked her?" Amanda asked.

Nick shook his head.

"The security cameras in her office will though." Fin said, stopping in his tracks. "We need to go back."

"I'll come with you." Amanda said.

"I'm gonna go find Liv." Nick said.

They seperated, and Nick ran into Brian inside.

"Nick how is she? I'm going to find her now." They both started walking towards the elevators.

"Concussion, maybe fractured ribs. She doesn't remember what happened. Fin and Amanda are going back to the precinct to look at the security footage."

They got off the elevator and walked down the hallway. They found her room, walked into it.

"Liv are you alright?" Brian asked, practically running over to the hospital bed.

Olivia nodded. "They said I can leave tomorrow morning, thank god."

"She has a concussion, and a couple cracked ribs." The nurse in the corner of the room said. "Just no strenuous activity for a week and she'll be fine."

"Thank you." Nick said to the nurse as she left the left the room.

"Liv do you remember anything?" Nick asked again.

"No. I just-" She stopped, her face frozen.

"What?" Brian asked.

_...grabbed her hair and pulled her up by it...she started having another flashback..._

"I remember someone pulling me up by my hair... It caused a flashback..." She trailed off, her face in her hands.

Brian had sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Hey it's okay." He grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

_"Kathy?"..."Is something wrong?"..."It's Elliot."_

"Kathy called me, something happened with.. Elliot." Olivia said, looking up at them.

* * *

><p>"Thanks. Amanda said to the tech guy who dropped off the security footage from that night.<p>

"Okay, so it was a little after ten." Fin said fast forwarding to the correct time. It stopped at _9:53_.

They saw Olivia answer the phone. _"Kathy, is something wrong?"_

"Kathy?" Amanda asked.

"Stabler's ex-wife." Fin said.

_"Kathy, I'll try and find him. Thanks for letting me know."_

"I wonder what that was about?" Fin said, but then he saw himself come on the camera. Then Olivia picked up her phone.

_"El, it's Liv. Kathy told me what happened. Please call me and don't do anything stupid. Please."_

"I guess that's what her and Kathy were talking about." Amanda said.

They watched the video for five more minutes. "Come one where's it at?" Fin said, but stopped.

They saw Elliot walk into her office.

"He's wasted, I can tell by the way he's walking." Amanda said.

They saw Elliot grab Olivia, then scream at her.

"Oh my god, it was Elliot." Amanda said, after seeing him slap her and throw her down on the ground.

"When we find him I'm going to cut his balls off." Fin said angrily, stopping the tape. "I can't watch this anymore."

**A/N: I may have stolen a review for that last part ;)**

**Please review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: OMG! Super sorry about the long wait for an update, hope it won't happen again!**

Fin got off the phone with Barba. "He got us the warrant, we can go get the bastard."

"We should call Nick, tell him what happened." Amanda said, walking out the door with him.

Fin glanced at his phone. "I don't think she remembered anything yet, Nick would've called us."

* * *

><p>"Amaro." Nick answered the phone. It was Fin calling. He stepped out of the room quickly.<p>

"Hey Nick, how's Liv?"

"She's going to be fine, it wasn't anything too serious. Did you guys get anything?"

"Yeah, we know what happened. Security cameras caught the whole thing..." Fin trailed off.

Nick was worried. "Tell me who did it. She still doesn't remember anything specific."

Fin took a deep breath. "It was Stabler-"

Nick cut him off as soon as he heard the name. "What the hell? I thought those two were back to being friends, or whatever."

"He was drunk, he didn't know what he was doing. We're going to pick him up now."

There was a long silence between them. Finally, Nick broke it. "You know she's going to be heartbroken, how the hell am I supposed to tell her this?"

"Look, she'll know eventually, so just come out with it." Fin said.

Nick glanced back into the room. "Okay, I've got to go. Don't go easy on the guy."

They both hung up and Nick walked back into the room.

"Did they find anything?" Olivia asked him.

Nick sat in the other chair next to her. "Yeah, they know who did it." He paused. "Look, Liv you're not going to like this."

"Who the hell did it?" Brian said angrily, and annoyed at Nick for dragging it out.

"It was Elliot." Nick said it quietly.

Olivia had this look of shock on her face, Brian just staring at her, wondering if she was okay.

Olivia didn't want to believe what he just said, even though she knew they must have proof. "No, he wouldn't- whey would he want to? It doesn't make sense."

Nick shook his head. "He was drunk, he wasn't thinking clearly- or at all." He added.

"Oh God. I knew he had a drinking problem, I tried to get him help, but he wouldn't listen to me." She sat up a little more.

"We have proof through the security cameras. He's going to go to do time for this."

"That's the thing, he doesn't need jail time, he needs help." Olicia said.

Brian looked at Olivia. He could see the hurt and disappointment in her eyes. "Liv you sure about this?"

She nodded. "It can wait. How's Noah? Where is he?"

"Lucy has him, she's staying at the apartment until tomorrow."

"Thank God." Olivia said.

* * *

><p>Amanda and Fin entered the building where Elliot's new apartment was.<p>

"You even think he's home?" Amanda asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Who knows with his drunk ass." Fin said angrily.

They found the apartment number at the end of the hallway.

"Here goes nothing." Amanda said, then knocked on the door. "Elliot Stabler, NYPD!"

They heard nothing on the other side of the door. After another minute of silence, Amanda tried again.

"NYPD open up!"

This time they heard movement inside.

"He's here, and still drunk off his ass." Fin said.

Elliot opened the door. "Fin, what the hell do you want. Who's this?" He asked, acknowledging Amanda.

"You son of a bitch." Fin said, moving inti the doorway, forcing Elliot back a little.

"What the hell'ssss that supposed to mean?" Elliot's words slurred again.

"Don't tell me you don't remember." Fin said again, even more angrily. "You don't rembr what happened practically an hour ago? At the precinct." Fin raised his voice.

"The precinct? Why the helllll would I be- Oh thats right." Elliot had a drunken smirk on his face. "That bitch got what she deserved." He practically yelled.

Fin lunged at him, but Amanda grabbed his arm, attempting to hold him back.

"Fin, now is not the right time. Let's just take him down to the station."

Fin eased back, wishi the could wipe the stupid look off of Elliot's face. "Fine." He reached for his handcuffs. "Elliot Stabler, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law-"

Elliot interrupted. "I know my damn rights."

Fin out the cuffs around his wrists and they exited the apartment. "You have the right to an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights?"

Elliot drunkenly rolled his eyes. "Yesssss. How many damn times do I have to say it? Yes, yes, yes-"

Amanda opened the back car door. "Shut the hell up."

Fin shoved him in the back and they started back for the precinct.

**A/N: Not the best chapter, but I'm posting the next one within the hour. Please review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Just as promised. (Trust me, this one's better.)**

The next morning, Brian led Olivia out to His car, which was still parked in the parking lot. Nick had gone back to the precinct to help the others deal with the situation.

"I can't wait to see Noah." Olivia said as she slid into the passenger seat of his car.

Brian got in opposite of her and started the car. "He misses his mom."

Olivia smiled. "Did the others give you any word?"

"Elliot was booked, his arraignment is later in the afternoon." Brian glanced at her. "Stil gonna drop the charges?" He asked.

"Only if he agrees to get help." Olivia planned to talk with Elliot later today. She had to get some sense into him. His drinking has already gone too far.

About ten minutes later they were walking into the front door of their apartment. When they walked in Lucy was holding Noah, who was fussing.

"Noah, look who's home." Lucy turned so that Noah could see the two of them. His face lit up as soon as he made eye contact. "Someone misses his parents." She said to them.

Brian walked over to Lucy and took him out of her arms. "Hey big guy." He said as he walkee him back over to Olivia.

Olivia smiled at the baby, but turned to Lucy first. "Thank you."

Lucy smiled. "It's no problem. I hope you get better soon." Lucy noticed it was almost nine o'clock. "I've got to get going. Bye Noah." She said to him.

Noah's tiny hand waved as she exited the room, out the front door.

Brian looked at Olivia. "Think you can hold him?"

"Considering the fact you have to go to work in a half an hour, I'm up for the challenge." She laughed a little, but regretted it, well her ribs regretted it more. "Here, let me see him."

Brian carefully handed her Noah, and she took him with ease- surprisingly.

"See, told you I could handle this." Olivia said, kidding the fact that the weight against her ribs had increased the pain, but it was bearable and she hid it well.

"I'm going to grab a shower before ai leave, you got him?" Brian asked.

Olivia nodded. He turned towards the bathroom and she went and sat on the couch with Noah. The pain decreased when his weight on her decreased.

Her doctor had said to take a week off work. She needed it, but she really wanted to get back to normal. Everyone who knew her knew she wouldn't stay away for more than a day, tops.

"Hey, buddy." The little boy smiled when he heard her voice. "Later, what do you say we take a trip down the the station? We can see everybody, and you can hang out with them too. Doesn't it sound like fun?"

Noah only gave her a slight giggle. She had no clue of he could understand them when they talked, even a little. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

><p>Nick and Fin had Elliot in an interrogation room, since he still had a couple hours left until his arraignment.<p>

"I still don't know what the hell happened last night." Elliot said, mid a major hangover.

"So you don't remember anything from last night?" Nick asked, annoyed,

Elliot was annoyed as well, he had no idea why he was under arrest. "Nothing."

"You don't remember coming into the precinct, drunk off your ass?" Fin was clearly pissed.

Nick opened up a laptop that had been sitting on the table, and pulled up the security footage from last night. He sped it up to where Elliot had walked in and turned it around so Elliot could see it.

"What the hell's this?" Elliot asked.

Nick clicked the play button. "The missing link from your little blackout."

Ellit watched the screen. He watched what had happens in the five minutes he had been there. No of this even rang a bell in his mind.

Fin slammed the computer shut. "You telling me that's not you!"

Elliot shook his head. "I don't believe it, that can't be me, I would never do this!" He was clearly getting upset. "Where the hell is my damn lawyer?"

Fin and Nick left the interrogation room, laptop in hand.

Barba and Amanda had been watching this.

"He clearly doesn't remember anythig that happened last night." Amanda said.

Barba glanced at his watch. "I've got to go prep for arraignment." He left them three alone.

They walked back into the bull pen, just as Olivia entered with Noah.

"Liv, what are you doing here?" Fin asked, as if they didn't know the answer already.

"I need to see him." Olivia said. "Is Barba here?"

"He literally just left." Amanda said.

"I need to talk with him." Olivia put Nown down in the chair beside her.

Nick started to leave. "I'll go get him." He briskly walked off to get him.

"How you feeling?" Fin asked her.

"As best as I can be." Olivia said. "They told me to stay away from work for a week, that obviously didn't happen."

Nick came back with Barba as quickly as he left.

"You wanted to talk Olivia?" Barba asked.

Olivia nodded. "Do you guys mind watching Noah?"

They all shook their heads.

"Not at all." Amanda said and smiled at the little boy.

Olivia walked Barba into her office, which had been cleared from bing a crime scene, and closed the door.

"Make this quick, I have to get to arraignment." Barba said.

"I want you to plead him out."

Barba gave her a confused look. "Are you serious? After all that happened last night?"

Olovia shook her head. "He doesn't neEd jail time, he needs help. I want him to go to rehab."

"And you want me to do what?" Barba asked.

"Get a court order that forces him to, or I will press charges and he will do time."

"First you have to get him to agree."

"That's why I'm here." Olivia said. "Can you make it happen?"

Barab nodded. "I'll bring it up at arraignment, see if the judge allows it."

"Thanks, I'm going to talk to him." She said, getting ready to leave.

"He's in ingerrogetion 5." Barba told her.

She nodded and left her office, towards the interrogation rooms. When she arrived, she saw Elliot had his head in his hands, on the table. She was hoping this would make him come to his senses. She opened the door and he looked up. He froze on the spot whe he saw her. It started to sink in that what the others had told him was true. He saw the light bruises formed on her face, a big lump,formed in his throat.

"Elliot." She said, sitting opposite of him. It was clear to her he had a major hangover and knew he didn't remener anything.

Elliot unfroze. "Liv... oh my God. Did I really do this?" He sounded frantic.

Olivia nodded. "Yes." Her tone changed quickly. "El, what the hell happened? You were doing great now this had to happen. You need help."

He shook his head, angry at himself. "No. I did this, it's my fault. I deserve to pay for it."

"Elliot, I can get Barba to drop the charges, if you agree to go to rehab and seriously commit to it. I want you to do this."

He saw the look she was giving him. It was a "are you seriously goung to trash your life" expression, which he had received many times before. He never thlught he'd stoop this low ever in his life. As much as he didn't want to, he knew she was right.

Elliot looked directly at her. "Okay, I'll do it, I'll commit to rehab."

Olivia gave him a solemn look. "You had better be serious about this."

He knew how hurt she was. "I'm sorry." He said it really low, but it was audible to her.

She stood up to leave, and her engagement ring rpshined off the sunlight comit through the window.

"Last night was really unacceptable. My memory is starting to come back to me, I remember what started it. Just so you know, I am very happy for you. Congratulations Liv, I really mean it."

Olivia glanced back at him from the door. "I know."

**A/N: Finally, some common sense from Elliot. Please review, Imhope the next chapter is up sooner.**


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